Room 237 (2012) - September 24, 2013

[Croweyes1121]

This film is an oddity. I hated it the first time I watched it. Pretentious, stupid, and preposterous. The second time, I had my friend over for shots of Ezra Brooks. Every time we heard something ludicrous beyond belief, we took another shot. Within about 20 minutes, we were both convinced it was the best film of the year.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

This film is an oddity. I hated it the first time I watched it. Pretentious, stupid, and preposterous. The second time, I had my friend over for shots of Ezra Brooks. Every time we heard something ludicrous beyond belief, we took another shot. Within about 20 minutes, we were both convinced it was the best film of the year.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

This film is an oddity. I hated it the first time I watched it. Pretentious, stupid, and preposterous. The second time, I had my friend over for shots of Ezra Brooks. Every time we heard something ludicrous beyond belief, we took another shot. Within about 20 minutes, we were both convinced it was the best film of the year.

So recovering alcholics should stay away from trying to enjoy this film...

[redrunner97]

The guy who made the documentary doesn't actually believe this, he just is regular old documentary filmmaker that thought it would be interesting to make a movie about the wild and insane theories behind the fans of the movie, not the movie itself.

I think he succeeded in doing so. I liked it because I did not take it seriously, its not really meant to be taken TOO seriously.

I look forward to picking this up.

[tonylopez]

If you guys have an hour, there is a documentary called "THE SHINING CODE" on YouTube that goes off about all this hidden symbolism in the film. Its pretty far out there but its entertaining fiction.

[Darkstream]

Originally Posted by redrunner97

The guy who made the documentary doesn't actually believe this, he just is regular old documentary filmmaker that thought it would be interesting to make a movie about the wild and insane theories behind the fans of the movie, not the movie itself.

I think he succeeded in doing so. I liked it because I did not take it seriously, its not really meant to be taken TOO seriously.

Exactly!

I think it's interesting how this doc shows how much people look for things in art that isn't really there or was never intended to be anything more than the obvious. Sure, some artists do use symbolism or subliminal messages or subtext in their work and welcome audience participation to interpret the work in their own way, but sometimes there is no hidden meaning and a cigar is simply just a cigar.

I think this documentary illustrates just how fanatical and obsessive some people are, but I also think it's creative on their part to make correlations between things that are totally unrelated and have them coincidentally connect somehow, even if not convincingly so. I can see the fun in that (I've done the whole Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz experiment before). But some people get so caught up in looking for things that were never intended to be there that they'll convice themselves it's a fact to the point that they will even dispute with the artist that created the work. This goes for movies, music, painting, and just about every form of art. I remember an interview where David Lynch, who is known for his interpretive films, was once asked about a scene in one of his movies and what it meant, after giving their own long and deep interpretation of it, and then Lynch basically said that that particular scene was really nothing more than what you see on screen.

[Daikichi Kawachi (河地大吉)]

I know conspiracy theories are ridiculous a lot of the time but I still enjoy reading and hearing about them. As someone who loves movies and particularly loves The Shining I think it would be a lot of fun to hear other film fans find hidden meaning in the film even where none may exist. Im looking forward to checking it out.

[besi]

Saw it and there are couple of interesting stuff in it(Apollo 11) but some of the theories are laughable.at least made me want to watch the Shining again

http://www.sacredmysteries.com/public/300_2.cfm

[monorail91]

I thought it was great, like others have said it's more interesting for showing how much people get out of watching movies and their own interpretations of them. And that's kind of the silly thing about film theory, you always assume everything is working exactly as the director intended; so if you notice X aspect of the film, it's supposed to be that way, so you mentally dig deeper into it.

[MifuneFan]

I found the packaging for this, and it's pretty amazing

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I found the packaging for this, and it's pretty amazing

[Show spoiler]

That packaging is fantastic.

[chris_sc77]

^ thats the DVD packaging. Wonder if the Blu-packaging will be the same.

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by chris_sc77

^ thats the DVD packaging. Wonder if the Blu-packaging will be the same.

God I hope so, that packaging is genius.

[brandon_260]

It's a shame I found this film mindnumblingly silly, because that looks incredible.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by SilentxStatik24

God I hope so, that packaging is genius.

It should be the same for both. If you google the upc (030306191393) that's the artwork that shows up for it. It's a pretty unique looking slipbox.

[Dubliner1]

Looks a little like this UK bluray release for 'Peeping Tom'....

[MitchA17]

I really enjoyed this. To me, it's less a documentary about interpretations of The Shining, and more of a statement about how a single work of art can create endless interpretations and theories, some far-fetched and some plausible. I'll be picking this up when it comes out.

[MifuneFan]

Here are the extras included. Sounds pretty decent:

Special Features: The mstrmnd Speaks: Feature Commentary with Kevin McLeod,
Secrets of The Shining: Panel Discussion from the First Annual Stanley Film Festival,
11 Deleted Scenes,
The Making of the Music Featurette,
Mondo Poster Design Discussion with Artist Aled Lewis,
Trailers

[HorrorBlu]

Don't waste your money on this. It's not even a documentary, it's just an audio commentary. I can't believe this got a theatrical release. It should be nothing more than a YouTube video or a DVD extra.

If you must see it, watch it for free on Netflix (I'm sure they'll have it on streaming). But honestly, your time would be better spent re-watching The Shining instead. Or doing anything else, really.

[redrunner97]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

Don't waste your money on this. It's not even a documentary, it's just an audio commentary. I can't believe this got a theatrical release. It should be nothing more than a YouTube video or a DVD extra.

If you must see it, watch it for free on Netflix (I'm sure they'll have it on streaming). But honestly, your time would be better spent re-watching The Shining instead. Or doing anything else, really.

And where's your amazing documentary?
jk.

But for real, I liked it, it genuinely gave me the creeps.

And it was a documentary, it's the direcor's style, he does them all that way, with the audio and clips. He's really nice too, and likes digging into whatever "secrets" he finds intersting enough to film. Like the phenomenal short doc about the Screen Gems logo.